The present invention relates to disposable wearing articles for absorption and containment of bodily discharges and, more particularly, to such articles having a fastening means for connection of front and rear waist regions.
There is disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. Hei9-191908 a disposable diaper provided with a mechanical fastening means for connection of front and rear waist regions. The mechanical fastening means comprises a hook member bonded on a base tape which is attached on a transversely opposite side section of a rear waist region transversely extending outwardly therefrom and a target tape strip having a plurality of loops for releasably engaging with the hook member and attached on the outer surface of the front waist region.
There is disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. Sho50-36254 a disposable diaper provided with an adhesive fastening means for connection of front and rear waist regions. The adhesive fastening means comprises a tape fastener having an adhesive layer applied on a base tape which is attached on the outer surface of a side section of the rear waist region transversely extending outwardly therefrom and a second tape shorter than the tape fastener which is attached on the inner surface of the side section of the rear waist region and connected to the tape fastener so as to form a Y-shape connection cooperatively with the tape fastener.
The diaper disclosed in Hei9-191908 has a problem that the target tape strip is apt to be irregularly deformed by its flexion and/or distortion occurring due to the movement of the wearer. Such a flexion and/or a distortion of the target tape strip may lead to disengagement of a proximal portion of the tape fastener from the loops and/or to release of the proximal portion of the tape fastener from the side section. The tape fastener is formed from a single sheet and, if a peel strength of the proximal portion relative to the side sections is correspondingly low, it is likely that a distal portion of the tape fastener might be irregularly moved due to the flexion and/or distortion of the target tape strip during use of the diaper and, in consequence, a peeling force and/or a shearing force generated by a movement of the distal portion might be exerted upon the proximal portion, eventually resulting in separation of the proximal portion from the side section.
In the known diaper, an intermediate zone extends between the proximal portion and the hook member of the distal portion. The intermediate zone of a relatively low stiffness may be unacceptably moved. Such movement of the intermediate zone may cause a peeling force and/or a shearing force to exert upon the proximal portion and thereby further facilitate the proximal portion to be peeled off the side section. If zones of the distal portion carrying the hook member permanently bonded thereto have an unacceptably high stiffness, the hook member carrying zones may be unable to follow the movement of the target tape strip. In other words, the hooks may be unable to follow the movement of the loops, so there is a possibility that the hooks might be unintentionally disengaged from the loops during use of the diaper.
In the diaper disclosed in Sho50-36254, if a hook member bonded on the base tape is used for the tape fastener having the adhesive layer applied on the base tape, a portion on which the hook member is attached will have a higher stiffness than the adhesive tape fastener. Consequently, the diaper having such a tape fastener will be accompanied with as a problem as the diaper of Hei9-191908.